Some Alterna-gifts To The Humdrum

'Twas the last shopping day before Christmas

December 24, 1996|By Brad Kuhn of The Sentinel Staff

If the stockings that hang by your chimney seem bare. Or you've shopped out the malls, but have money to spare. Some off-mall alternatives might hit the spot. But reader beware, for the timid they're not.

Club clothing is hot. Chunky jewelry is phat. But don't go to the malls if you're looking for that. Industrial jewelry, with ball bearings and springs, nicely sets off tattoos, captive beads and nose rings.

For a little white magic, priestess Hillary's good, for a potion or wand in her shop Dragonwood. The metaphysical store, which sells faeries and runes, has stocked up for Christians with Celt Christmas tunes.

Get a To Wong Foo make-over, complete with high heels. Ritzy Rags on Mills Avenue, offers such deals. For a modest $150, any Tom, Dick or Harry can walk on the wild side, eat, drink and be Mary.

Some may cluck at the growing diversity of retail in Central Florida, particularly when it comes to stores that cater to alternative lifestyles.

But for others, these stores speak of the area's maturity as surely as a Saks Fifth Avenue or Gianni Versace.

Regardless of what one may think of these guerrilla retailers, they are practicing their craft with a passion and level of customer service that most chain stores only dream of.

Consider Rob D'Alberto, owner of Freak Shoppe, a body-piercing parlor and maker of Acid Tribe jewelry. Manufacturer, distributor and wholesaler all rolled into one, he peddles his wares at The Artistry, a consortium of alternative retail shops.

His piercings start at $26 for an ear. Tongue piercings, which are popular this Christmas, begin at $60, including jewelry. Gift certificates are available.

Joseph Martens, owner of rival Strong Arm 47, offers tongue piercings starting at $40. And, in the spirit of peace on Earth, he stocks invisible acrylic jewelry for customers whose parents may not share their taste in self-expression.

Tattoos also are popular among the young and the pierced. That's why places such as The Artistry, Strong Arm 47 and Unity offer one-stop shopping.

''We like to call ourselves an eclectic collection of artistic expression and culture,'' said Bret Ashman, who runs The Artistry.

But unlike Melrose Boulevard, where the unusual all blends in one place, Orlando's alternative retail is grouped in small clusters.

Orlando's growing nightclub scene has spawned a number of outlets for showy club wear and the more casual, baggy street attire.

Unity, on East Colonial Drive near Orange Avenue, was one of the first in this genre. More recent ones include Props Deluxe, In House Style and Strong Arm 47, all on Magnolia Avenue; Wacko on Mills Avenue; and Venus & Mars on East Colonial.

The Lake Ivanhoe antique district, on Orange Avenue north of downtown Orlando, is home to several stores touting fashions and furniture of the 1950s, '60s and '70s.

In the past few years, the trend has traveled east on Virginia Avenue and south on Mills Avenue, where it mixed with a growing collection of gay-owned and gay-friendly businesses to form the so-called ViMi district.

The result is a whimsical mix that includes Populuxe, where you can buy a Sonny Bono doll, A-Team action figures or a Mork & Mindy board game, and Rainbow City, a store that promotes the gay lifestyle.

But not every alternative retailer is out to titillate or shock. Some straddle the mainstream, such as Kathmandu on Morse Boulevard near Park Avenue and Kismet at Fairbanks and Denning avenues. Both combine popular jewelry styles with exotic collectibles, such as tribal masks, which appeal to the more tony Winter Park crowd.

Another crossover hit is Halo, a local artist's outlet on New England Avenue that sells clothing, handbags, pillows and lamp shades with religious themes. The store's wares are designed upstairs at Brujodada, an artist's cooperative run by Halo co-owner Bruce A. Marshall.

An expression of personal faith? Whatever, says the store's other owner, Sherry McMurtrie.